ClaphamFox

Sounds ideal. You've talked me into it

Why would we want to do that?

I’ve got a feeling it will be one of those games - like Man City at home and Liverpool away - where we actually play quite well and put together some decent spells of play, but ultimately come away with nothing. Arteta will praise us after the game and some pundits will remark that if we carry on playing like that we’ll be alright….

I’m sure he is.

Nonetheless, I’m a little surprised by the suggestion that we leave out a 23-year old defender who we signed for £12m because his feelings might get hurt if we lose…

He’s 23, not 17.

It doesn’t work like that.

Listened to the WYS podcast this morning. He was articulate and insightful - and seemed genuinely gutted that we’d lost. I really liked him.

That season we acquired Robert Huth on loan in January and went three at the back. It took a few weeks to click, but when it did we were a different team. I hope Coulibaly turns out to be a good 'un, but it seems a bit much to expect him to have the same effect. Our failure to sign a quality CB last month has almost certainly relegated us.

I live in Oxfordshire and am, naturally, surrounded by Man Utd-supporting neighbours. I’m heading to the pub with five of them tonight. All I’m asking is for something other than total humiliation. Can we at least try to give them a game…?

Are you in Japan? Lucky you if so...

It isn't. A team with Faes and Vestergaard as its centre-half pairing isn't serious about staying up - especially when that team also provides little protection in midfield. Our spine is far too fragile. The signing of Okoli hasn't worked out, but that can happen sometimes - it only becomes a problem if you place too much faith in one player, which is exactly what we did. If we'd have spent the Skipp money on another central defender, we might not be in the position we're in.

Do you recall which programme on TalkSport that was?

He pissed Rodgers off because he was publicly whining about not playing. Rodgers did not rate him and was desperate to get rid of him in the summer of 2022, but Vestergaard refused to go to Fulham because they wouldn't pay him as much as we were. After that Rodgers refused to let him anywhere near the first team.

On the PSR front I wonder if we're trying to agree some kind of deal with the PL in this arbitration process, and that the club felt that splashing the cash in January may have weakened our negotiating position Just a guess, but seems possible.

Cannon hasn't been part of our first team squad this year so he didn't need to be replaced. I don't know about him being a bad egg, but some reports have suggested he had a major falling out with Vardy. Others have suggested that he has a very poor understanding of tactics and can't be coached to play in a particular way. Either way, it seems that the club wasn't remotely bothered about keeping him.

All of his public comments suggest that he believes he will be in charge next season. And I suspect the club sees it the same way. I think it's very likely he'll still be the manager in August.

They only bought KDH as a favour to help us avoid a PSR breach. Golding was almost certainly part of that deal.

Faes was a regular feature of the defence that got relegated in 2023. The only reason Vestergaard didn't feature was because he wasn't deemed good enough. So we've actually become worse in central defence since we were relegated last time, which seems incredible. But it's true.

We're not starting next season with a transfer embargo. I assume Cannon was sold because it increased the pot of money we'd have had if a target became available and we needed to move quickly. I also don't think anybody at the club rates Cannon and so they were probably perfectly happy to see him go.

Rodgers and Maresca did indeed express frustration about being deceived by those in charge. RvN hasn't, though - he's explicitly saying that the situation has been clear all along. Whether he's being honest or just digging the club out is open to debate, but given the fact he walked out on PSV because he was pissed off with the owners I don't see why he'd lie to protect Rudkin and Top. He doesn't really seem the type to do that.

In the press conference he basically said that there was a budget but that other clubs whacked their prices up, which made it impossible to bring any of our targets in.

Sorry for late response - I somehow missed this yesterday. The scenario you cite (no more wins this season) is an extreme one. I don't think it will pan out like that. I think we will go down but will pick up the odd win and draw along the way and end up with 26-28 points. The club will take the view that the resignation of Maresca followed by the mistake of appointing Cooper basically screwed our season, and that RvN was not the cause of that. He will be given the opportunity to shape the squad in the summer and lead us into next season. How long he survives after that will depend on where we are in the Championship table after a dozen or so games.

If he's happy to dig the club out and claim he isn't disappointed by the transfer window, that suggests he intends to stick it out and wants to manage us next season...

Strictly speaking this is League Cup rather than PL, but worth a watch if you need cheering up (which, let’s face it, most of us do at the moment). Do NOT listen with speakers on if at work or around children…